Solar scam: Accused’s ex-counsel says sexual exploitation letter fake

Kochi, April 7 (IANS) A letter purportedly written by solar scam accused Saritha Nair which claims she was sexually exploited by Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was fake, and ex-minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar was behind it, Nair’s former counsel said on Thursday.

“The letter that has come out (in the media) is a fake one. Former minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar and his aides are behind this,” Nair’s former counsel Feny Balakrishnan told reporters here after he deposed before the ongoing solar scam judicial probe commission.

“Last month, Ganesh Kumar’s staff came to me and asked me to support their efforts to bring down the Chandy government. They offered me a brand new car,” he said.

On April 3, television channel Asianet News TV released the letter written by Nair, who was also present when the channel aired the news.

Appearing on the news channel, Nair confirmed that she had written the 24-page letter while in police custody in 2013. She, however, said she will not discuss its contents.

“I have read Nair’s original letter and it had no mention of the sexual exploitation by the chief minister. The new letter that has surfaced has additions and deletions, compared to the original letter she wrote,” Balakrishnan said.

However, Balakrishnan’s statement on the new letter was not accepted by the one-member probe commission, which said if it has to be included, the so-called original letter has to be produced.

Ganesh Kumar was a member of the Chandy cabinet. His party Kerala Congress (Pillai) headed by his father R. Balakrishna Pillai was an ally of the Congress-led UDF.

He, however, lost his ministership after his then wife, a medical professional, complained of domestic violence in 2013. Last year, the father-son duo moved over to the CPI-M -led LDF.

Ganesh Kumar is contesting from the Pathanapuram assembly constituency for the fourth time.

As soon the news surfaced in the media, former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan said there was no reason to suspect the revelation.

Chandy, however, said the letter was nothing but part of a larger conspiracy, ahead of the upcoming assembly polls. He said he will seek legal recourse against such a defamatory claim.

The solar scam case surfaced when Nair and her live-in partner Biju Radhakrishnan were arrested in 2013 on charges of cheating numerous investors who paid money for solar panels.

Over 30 cases of cheating against Nair and Radhakrishnan are registered in various courts. Police estimate that they cheated investors to the tune of over Rs.6 crore.

While Nair is out on bail, Radhakrishnan is in jail on charges of murdering his first wife.